Reading and information enhancement system and method

ABSTRACT

A written document (hereinafter referred to as a “work,” on electronic format which includes, stories, novels, education texts, biographies, compilations, collections, anthologies, tracts, and any other traditional format for relatively extensive texts) provides access to reference, bibliography and/or definition material through an electronic software capability associated with the work. Depending upon reader access information or characteristics (e.g., age, grade, proficiency, or position within the work or any other identifiable reader characteristic or access limitation), any request for reference material, definitions, explanations, translations, or other material provided in the associated software capability is automatically limited by system acknowledgement of the reader access information or characteristics. As the reader&#39;s access information or characteristics change, the quality and/or quantity and/or format of requested information with respect to a work changes.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/284,706 which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/951,313, filed Sep. 27, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of media, such as text,video, graphics, and sound, containing terms, ideas, images, andinformation for which background references, footnotes, translations ordefinitions may be desirable to the reader.

2. Background of the Art

When individuals use primary text such as written, video, film, graphic,or sound recording matter (which includes hard copy material andelectronic material), there may be a need or desire to provide referencematerial to a reader, upon request, to enable the reader to appreciateor understand the text, graphics, or sound. In a learning or scholasticenvironment, it may also be necessary to limit access to reference ordefinition material, or, at least, to limit the degree to which termscan, or should be, explained to specific readers depending on theirparticular, and distinguishable, levels of progress. These levels ofprogress, for example, may be defined by the reader's age, grade level,program level (e.g., Advanced Placement versus Basic study tracks),stage of study within an ongoing course (e.g., first semester versussecond semester), the user's place in the sequence of the (written,video, graphic, or sound recording) material, and the like. At thepresent time, when a reader requests reference material or definitionfrom within material (a text, sound recording, video game or video), auniform reference or uniform (single) definition for the requested termis provided. This system has limited informational and educationaloptions both for the providers and users of written, graphic, video,videogames, and sound recordings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Media is combined with associated user reference material the content ofwhich varies according to reader characteristics. Reader characteristicsinclude specified educational level, skill level, place in the progressof the media, age, and so on. Media can be in the form of text, images,or sound. Media can be a written document, such as a story, tract,novel, text book, biography, compilation, collection, or anthology. Itcan be a score of a musical composition or a recording of music. It canbe a written play or an audio or video or film recorded play. It can bea data base, a series of images such as in a picture book, movie, orvideo, or it can be a series of sounds, such as recording of bird soundsor a spoken word recording. Each of these forms is hereinafter referredto as a “work.” A work can be available in electronic format whichprovides easy access to reference, bibliography and/or definitionmaterial through an electronic software capability associated with thework. Depending upon reader access information or characteristics,(e.g., age, grade, proficiency, position within the work or any otheridentifiable reader characteristic or access limitation) any request forreference material, definitions, explanations, translations, footnotes,or other material available from the associated software isautomatically limited by system acknowledgement of specific readeraccess information or reader characteristics. As the reader's accessinformation or characteristics change, the quality and/or quantityand/or format of information supplied to the reader with respect to thework changes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURE

FIG. 1 shows a flow diagram of a system by which the presently describedtechnology of a Progressive Reference system is prepared.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A “Progressive Reference” system according to the presently describedtechnology is a reference work classification scheme that containscitations or available information (e.g., definitions, backgroundmaterial, citations, foot notes, annotations, translations,cross-references, or other information, or sources of information, thatmight be useful to a reader) that differ for given requested terms orrequested ideas depending on what stage of training, what level ofauthorized access has been granted, or where in the primary material (orWork) the reader is at when he or she looks up the term, phrase, name oridea. An ordinary reference work, such as a concordance or index, wouldprovide a single, uniform, general definition to describe the idea as itoccurs in the whole text or group of related texts.

The present technology may work for any type of information, sourcematerial and media and combinations thereof including but not limited toreligious works such as the Bible, the Koran, the Talmud, moreconventional texts such as trade books, trade manuals, repair or usermanuals, novels, textbooks, histories, biographies, conventional movies,educational tracts, text books, interactive movies, interactive videos,DVD'S, CD-ROM's, CDs, internet applets and content, overhead projectorand computer displays, audio and video tapes, hard-disk drives,solid-state memories, magazines, book overlays, plays, poems,videogames, computer games, musical scores, computer code, databases,DNA sequences, web pages, interactive web pages, web pages fromapplication service providers, and so on. Furthermore, the invention isapplicable to all forms and types of reference schemes such as, but notlimited to, encyclopedias, concordances, glossaries, dictionaries,thesauruses, taxonomies, ontologies, indexes, maps, graphics, and so on.

Unlike previous referencing schemes, a Progressive Reference depends onone or more user characteristics. A user characteristic can be suppliedby the user, such as the user's age, gender, and/or educational level. Auser characteristic can be supplied automatically such as the user'sposition in the source material (or primary work), and/or the time anddate of the inquiry, or automatically from user associated data in adata base, or by a supervisor. A user characteristic can be suppliedmanually, semi-automatically or automatically. A user can supplyinformation that directs the limitation to specific historical timeperiods, cultures, academic disciplines, and so on, limited only by thenature of citations that have been edited into the Progressive Referencedata base for the particular work at the time the inquiry is made.

The Progressive Reference, thus, depends on a known or identified,reader characteristic, or set of characteristics, to select an allottedscope or type of information that it provides to the user. A ProgressiveReference requires that each occurrence of a definition, citation, or“entry” for each term is available on an “updated” basis or changed incorrespondence to each reader, for each place the certain term appears,and/or each time the inquiry is made—except in those instances wherenothing new and important has happened with respect to that term sinceit last occurred in the work, and except where no change is expected inthe need for more detailed or different explanations of that term sinceit was last encountered in the source material or since the lastrequest. Certain terms may not need to have a Progressive Referencecapability as the degree of need for expanded definition, or anydefinition, may not have to change over the course of use of the primarywork. However, the advantages of the Progressive Reference for someterms in a primary work do change and are provided as a function of theProgressive Reference. Normally, information in a Progressive Referenceentry will be limited to what is found in the source material, or work,between the start of the source material and where the user is in thesource material when the user requests a definition. Entries may addinformation from outside of the work, itself, that becomes relevant anduseful, particularly at a point of progression in the source material,but entries should, normally, not contain any information, either fromthe source material or from outside sources, that should be revealedonly later. Unlike standard entries, a Progressive Reference entry wouldnot give away the plot before the denouement, although at the conclusionof the primary work, detailed explanations, identification of clues, andexplanations of foreshadowings may be provided.

In a Progressive Reference Glossary for the “Harry Potter” series, forexample, a reader on page 72 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,J. K. Rowling's second volume in the series, will look up the word,“potions” and indicate (or will be so automatically identified in anelectronic text) that he or she is on Vol II, page 72. In a standardHarry Potter encyclopedia, a researcher would indicate only the word,“Potions” and would find examples of many, perhaps all, of the potionstaught at Hogwarts or those used by wizards, in generals, in all of thepublished Harry Potter books. In a Progressive Reference, only thosepotions that have already been mentioned in Volume 1, Harry Potter andthe Sorcerer's Stone, and those already mentioned in the first 72 pagesof Volume 2, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will bedisplayed—consistent with Ms Rowling's assumption that the reader knows,and remembers, all of what has been revealed up to Page 72 and nothingbeyond that.

Using the present technology of a Progressive Reference, a reader of anE-Book would have only to tap on the word she wanted to learn moreabout. The entry for that specific word at that specific location on thepage would be called up by the system and appear on the reader's screen.Similarly, in a movie, interactive movie, TV show, interactive TV show,or videogame, a keystroke, a word spoken by the user, or other usersignal would call up the entry appropriate to where the user saw theentry, or the idea suggesting the entry, in the source material. Theentry could contain information appropriate to the medium such asprevious scenes from the source material and/or scenes from other TVshows, videogames, news events, sporting events or movies. The entrycould contain URLs and links to web sites. Information from outsidesources could include definitions, pronunciation, and etymology ofterms, germane historical antecedents, and cultural allusions.Information provided may provide hints that the author would approve,but should not reveal information that will spoil the suspense or add anunnecessary burden to the reader. In an educational environment, wherestudent access to information may be controlled by a teacher or school,enabling passwords or a central control of degree of access may beoverseen by the educational institute. For example, in a language studyprogram, when a student asks for a translation of a word with multiplemeanings, the Progressive reference would provide different definitionsfor students dependent upon their level in the course, which would beidentified in the e-based system. For example, a student in a 101 coursewould receive a far more specific (and more useful) definition for aspecific term or phrase than would someone in a Graduate Level coursetranslating texts from a specific time period, where a term may have orhave had a different meaning.

At the other extreme of technology, the Progressive Reference could bein the form of a book, or in the form of a back section of the sourcematerial work. The page numbers of such Progressive Reference wouldcorrespond (as well as practical) to the page numbers of the sourcematerial work. On each page of the Progressive Reference itself, a listof defined terms in the order they appear on the page in source materialwork, or, alternatively, in alphabetical order, would be presented withthe definitions appropriate to that page or even to the place on thepage.

Even in book form, entries could comprise photos, art works, graphics,charts, and other forms of expression suitable to print. If it took morethan one page in the Progressive Reference to display all of the entriesbelonging to a page in the source material, the following page numberwould be found under the same page number as in the source material workfollowed by the letter, “a.” If two pages were required, the second pagewould be the same page number as in the source material followed by theletter, “b.” And, so on.

The preparer of the Progressive Reference determines which terms are tobe defined and prepares the entries coded by the page number, scenenumber, or other indicia of place or progress where the term appears.Similarly, the preparer would have to prepare as many entries aspractical to encompass all of the reader/user characteristicsanticipated in the reader/user population.

Correspondingly, and in order for the user to look up the entry, theuser must supply the point in the source material beyond which the userdoes not wish information. This is usually where the reader or viewer isat in the source material at the moment he or she is requesting theinformation. Further examples of places in the source material where auser would encounter a term about which he or she would want furtherinformation include a page number, a place in the development of amusical score, a scene in a movie, a level or point of play in a videogame, an instruction in a computer program, or a paragraph in a textbook. In the case of a video game, characters, clues, scenes, locations,weapons, and charms are normally revealed in sequence and only undercertain conditions. In this case, the information in an entry woulddepend not only on the sequence of play, but also on what the player hadaccomplished and, possibly, other reader characteristics such as theplayer's age.

Just as the Preparer has to anticipate, and provide for readercharacteristics, the user has to supply pertinent information abouthim/herself in order for the system to point to the appropriate citationin the Progressive Reference. In the case of a text book, particularly,a student might want only the textbook information presented to acertain point in the text because more information would be confusing orbecause the student would want to be required to learn only what isneeded for an upcoming test. Even, in this example, a student mightsupply personal information that adjusts the limitation just mentionedto add information that he/she would be assumed to know based on thestudent's academic level, course of study, and so on.

An electronic progressive reference can have means for the user torecall previous terms that the user referenced along with theirrespective citations for review at a later date and for comparing thedifferent citations as they changed over time. In addition, anelectronic progressive reference can store such look-ups for a teacheror administrator as a tool for gauging the frequency with whichdifferent terms were referenced by different types of users.

Example

For purposes of the remainder of this description, the term, Source Textis the Primary Work (such as a novel, videogame, movie, textbook,computer program, music, or other kind of database) on which theProgressive Reference is based. A Key Entry is a word or group of wordsrepresenting a person, place, thing, idea or action from the SourceText; this is the term that the user looks up. An Entry is the completecitation, or answer to the user's query, which includes the Key Entryand its description. The inventor believes that these are the commonterms used in the art of compiling reference books.

Although this invention will be found to be useful for analyzing allsorts of databases, the example used here is a mystery novel. As a userreads the novel, she frequently encounters a character or a thing whichshe is supposed to remember from earlier in the novel. It is an aspectof this technology that when she looks up the character or thing, shecan learn what has already been revealed in the unfolding plot withoutlearning so much about the subject that the plot will be given away orthe suspense spoiled.

In writing or editing a Progressive Reference, the judgment of thewriter and editor (the “preparer”) is even more crucial than for astandard glossary or concordance because the writer will attempt toinclude clues and significant facts that are both worthy of recall andimportant at that moment in the story—without inadvertently orgratuitously giving away the plot. In some Progressive References,supporting non-source material information of a historical, mythologicaland etymological nature may be included in the Entry. But, to stay trueto the intention of the invention, the preparer will not includeinformation that, preferably, should appear in the Entry for the sameterm when it appears later in the source material.

Examples of supporting information that may be contained in aProgressive Reference include standard dictionary definitions,translations such as British English to American English; pronunciationguides and audio samples; graphics such as photos, drawings, and artreproductions; videos; music; references to other sources; and URLs.Again, all of this supporting material, in the judgment of the preparer,must not confuse the reader or anticipate later events inadvertently byincluding data prematurely.

A preparer can take advantage of standard word processing and videoediting applications by preparing an index or a set of tags for words,ideas, actions, code sequences, photos, or scenes of interest.

These tags can be used on two ways. One way is to copy the last Entryalong with new source material relevant to the term (or Key Entry) thatappears since the last Entry. In this case, the preparer makes the newEntry by editing the last Entry and incorporating ideas or text from thenew source material. A second way takes more time but can avoid themistake of missing a prior occurrence of a term that is not reflected inthe last Entry but has now, at this point in the source material, becomemore relevant. This second way presents to the preparer not only thelast Entry and the new relevant material, but also all of the instanceswhere the Entry or underlying subject matter has, so far, occurred inthe source material. Either way, the preparer should also revise earlierEntries when it becomes apparent that overlooked source material is nowimportant. (Specially designed GUIs can make these Tags available, bymeans of dedicated look-up tables, to users who wish to follow thesequence of specific actions, ideas, concepts, people or things in theSource Text.

The invention requires that Entries be prepared, in advance, (eithermanually or by automatic or semi-automatic software designed to compileencyclopedic entries as is known in the art) and stored in the system,preferably in a look-up table as follows:

TABLE US-00001 Look-up Table (“KE” = Key Entry) Column 1 Column 2 Column3 Column 4 KE Pg # KE Pg # KE Pg # KE Pg # Entry Row 1 Entry Row 2 EntryRow 3 Entry Row 4

Columns 2-4 may contain more place information such as volume #,revision #, paragraph #, line #, bar # (music), scene #, etc. Oneavailable technology for identifying place information within the textis using the concept of a “Range Number” (This is an X-Code convention)A range number is used to identify each key entry in the behaviorsystem. A range number is one plus the number of times a word hasoccurred since the beginning of the work. The software quickly runsthrough the whole text counting the number of times each word is used.If the Key Entry is the 7^(th) time a specific word occurs, the preparer(or his software) puts in Range Number 7. If the same ProgressiveReference applies to a series of range numbers, (say 7, 8 & 9) becausenothing significant has changed, the code looks like this: “Range Number7-9.”

Note that, unlike conventional concordance entries, an Entry has to beprepared and stored in the look-up table for each page number, or place,where, in the judgment of the preparer, significant new information forthat Key Entry appears in the Source Text.

A Progressive Reference can assume the form of any other reference worksuch as a book, as in the example provided below. Or, it can be acomputer program, a web site, or a computer-aided device. Examples ofsuch computer-aided devices include a computer game, a PDA, an E-Book,or a smart-phone. In the case of a computer program or computerizeddevice, the preparer will have access to an interactive Graphical UserInterface (GUI) that allows the preparer manually, or automatically, toenter the page number, scene, time, place, or other indicia of where inthe sequence of the Source Text the preparer is. The GUI may be visual,tactile, or aural.

Some GUI's, where applicable, will have means for the preparer to entermore precise information than the page number. This can include the“Range” (identifies the specific location of each key entry in X-Code),Volume #, the Version or revision number, the Paragraph number, and theline number. GUIs will have means to display the resulting Entry. SomeGUI's will be able automatically to store and retrieve place informationthat changes only occasionally such as the Volume Number, and/or VersionNumber.

Some highlighted or keyed terms can receive such inputs automatically.For example, a computer, PDA or E-Reader will contain a digital versionof the Source Text or source data. Thus, Key Entries can be requested bythe reader placing the cursor on the word the reader wants to look-up,(the Key Entry)—automatically referencing a term along with its place inthe Source Text.

Another method of accessing entries is to display for the reader aseparate list of terms (Key Entries) for each page of text or sourcedata. Thus, as a page of Source Text is displayed, a corresponding tableof Key Entries specific to that page is displayed or convenientlyaccessible.

Entries can be assembled for each page by type or genre. For example, afilm clip, a definition, an example, a picture, a translation, asynonym, music, a musical score, a voice recording, computer or othertype of notation, etc.

Flow Charts

A flow chart for the System includes two sections, shown below. Thefirst flow chart shows a system for convenient retrieval of the Entry bythe reader. The second describes how an Entry can be prepared by apreparer and placed in the Look-Up Table, manually or automatically.

Flow Chart # 1 Retrieval of an Entry

1. Key Entry and Place information (see column 2 above) are entered intothe reader's GUI, either manually by the reader or automatically.2. The GUI instructs the software to go to the Look-Up Table.3. For each Key Entry, The software looks in column 1 of Table 1 for theKey Entry and puts the corresponding rows into memory location 1.4. Then, the software looks in column 2 of the Look-Up Table for a matchon the entered Place information and puts the matching row number(s)into memory location 2.5. The software then compares the contents of memory location 1 and 2and selects the row number which appears in both memory locations.6. The software then goes to the Look-Up table and copies the column 3ENTRY for the selected row to the GUI.7. The GUI can also be sent to other look-up tables to display, whereavailable, additional stored information pertaining to the ReferenceItem, possibly by page number.8. If no match is found, the following possibilities are explored:

a. Common misspellings are searched using a “Misspellings look-uptable.” When a misspelling is found, the system starts again using theKey Entry found in the “Misspelling table.”

b. The first time a Key Entry is used in the Source Text and if noextraneous information is included by the preparer, the following isdisplayed at the Entry: “This is the first use of the term.”

c. If the term does not appear on the cited page, the following isdisplayed at the Entry: “This term is not used on this page; the lasttime the term was used was on Page X.” (With a sub routine to add thecorrect page number for the last use) For speed of retrieval, certainsystems will construct a look-up table for each page that is constructed“on-the-fly” by the GUI each time a page is turned or manually entered.This will allow the GUI to search very small, page-specific, look-uptables that can be stored in small memories. Similarly, the User can useother small Reference Item look-up tables stored in RAM.

Flow Chart # 2 Preparation of an Entry

In one embodiment of the presently described technology, using a novelas the example, the preparer, goes through two or three stages:

Stage 1 (or Stage 1a and 1b):

-   -   The look-up table contains three columns. Column 1 is the Key        Entry. Column 2 is the page number or place in the Source Text        where the Key Entry occurs. Column 3 is the Entry.    -   The preparer starts on page 1 and continues forward. In Column        2, the preparer enters the numeral representing the page number.        In column 1, the preparer enters a Key Entry, on each successive        row, for each term the preparer wants to explain on that page.        Each Entry comprises a citation containing information that is        revealed on that page alone. The preparer may add relevant        information available from outside sources such as the        definition, the pronunciation, the etymology, germane historical        antecedents, and cultural allusions, but nothing from a future        page in the text. In Stage 1, once a Key Entry has been        selected, it always generates an Entry wherever it recurs in the        text. (If the preparer feels that a subsequent Key Entry adds no        new information of importance, the preparer can indicate        something like, “no new information.” Thus, in the final editing        that takes place in Stage 3, the Entry for said subsequent Key        Entry will be unchanged from the previous time that Key Entry        appeared. On each page of the source text, the preparer will be        looking for new Key Entries to add.    -   Still in stage 1, when a Key Entry reappears, the preparer        creates its new Entry by copying the Key Entry's last Entry and        adding new information. As was the case in preparing each        previous Entry, the preparer may supply new extra information as        appropriate. At the end of Stage 1, every Entry in the        Progressive Reference will comprise information from the        specific place it appears (along with extra information        specifically appropriate at each point in the text) concatenated        to each of the previous Entries for that Key Entry.

Another approach for an individual preparer, and one that may bepreferred when there are multiple preparers, is to break up Stage 1 intotwo stages. In this case, Stage 1a is the preparation of every Entryindividually. Then, in Stage 1b, the Entries are sequentiallyconcatenated.

The use of multiple preparers is advantageous and possibly novel andnon-obvious in the following method: Using the internet, multipleparticipants are invited to prepare individual Entries. If there werethousands of participants, it would be possible for the organizer toreceive all of the Entries for an entire text in a few days. Theorganizer would then assign the editing task described in Stage 2 toindividuals responsible for specific Key Entries. The Harry Potterexample, shown below, shows three stages.

Stage 2:

Stage 2 is an editing function. The objective of Stage 2 is to edit eachEntry to retain only that which remains important from the new Entry fora Key Entry combined with its previous Entry.

Flow Chart Steps for Preparation of Progressive Reference

Step 1: Create a look-up table with as many “place” columns as necessaryplus five additional columns. There should be an unlimited number ofrows. In this example, there are two “place columns, one for theVolume's name and number, and one for the page number.” It may also bedesirable to have a column for the line number or section of the page.[0054]Step 2: Label the columns as follows:

TABLE-US-00002 [0054] Column 1 Row Number Column 2 Source Text Name andVolume Number Column 3 Page Number Column 4 Key Entry Column 5 Entry forThis Page (For Stage 1a) Column 6 Complete Entry (For Stage 1b) Column 7Edited Entry (For Stage 2)

Step 3: Label the first row: Column Number [0056]Step 4: Label thesecond row: Column Labels [0057]Step 5: Number the following rowssuccessively

Example of a Progressive Reference Preparation Table

TABLE-US-00003 [0058] Col No. 2 5 6 7 Source Text 3 4 Entry for CompleteEdited Row Name and Page Key this Page Entry Entry No. Volume Number NoEntry Stage 1a Stage 1b Stage 2 1 Vol. 1 Harry 2 Potter and the 1 3Philosopher's 1 4 Stone 1 5 1 6 2 7 2 8 2

Step 6: Write the Source Text Title, Volume and Version No. (Ifapplicable) in Row 1, Column 2.

Step 7: Create the first Key Entry by writing the first page number ofthe Source Text in Row 2, Column 3.

Step 8: Write the first Key Entry you have chosen in Row 2, Column 4.

Step 9: In the same row, in Column 6 create the Entry for the Key Entrythat you entered in Row 2, Col 4.

Step 10: For each Key Entry you choose to enter into the table from thisfirst page of the Source Text, repeat steps 7 through 9. At the end ofStep 10, you should have created and entered all of the Key Entries andtheir respective Entries from the first page of the text.

Step 11: Write the second page number of the Source Text in Col. 3 ofthe next empty row. [0065]Step 12: In the row you selected in Step 11,create the first Key Entry from Page 2 of the Source Text, and write itin Column 4. [0066]Step 13: In the same row, create the Entry in Col. 5for the Key Entry you entered in Step 12. [0067]Step 14: For each KeyEntry you entered from the second page of the Source Text, repeat steps12 and 13. At the end of Step 14, you should have entered all of the KeyEntries with their respective Entries from the second page of the text.

The following Stage 1b and Stage 2 steps will allow you to create anedited final Entry in Column 7:

Step 15: Read each row in column 4 looking for a Key Entry to berepeated. Once a repeat occurs, it will represent an instance where aKey Entry in the Row that contains a 1 in col. 3 matches a Key Entry inthe row that contains a 2 in col. 3.

Step 16: Manually or automatically, and into column 6 in the row of thesecond Key Entry of the match, copy, so as to concatenate, the contentsof column 5 in the row of the first Key Entry of the match and thecontents of column 5 in the row of the second Key Entry of the match.

Step 17 In Stage 2, rewrite the contents of column 6 into column 7 byremoving redundancies and unimportant detail. Try to create a clear andconcise final Entry. In some instances, particularly in a manual system,the preparer may choose to create an edited Entry in column 7 by goingdirectly to Stage 2 (step 17), at the end of each page. In this case,the preparer will concatenate the most recent column 7 Entry with thenew column 5 Entry to make a new column 6 Entry.

Alternatively, the preparer may repeat steps 15 and 16 for eachsuccessive page leaving step 17 until all of the Entries for the wholeSource Text have been created. In this case, column 6's Entries willswell as each accumulates its string of all of the previous Entries foreach instance of the same Key Entry. Nonetheless, this long-windedmethod has the advantage of preserving every previous Entry in itsentirety for a final edit. By performing step 17 only once, at the end,it may be less likely that the preparer will prematurely edit out animportant detail from an earlier entry. Furthermore, as discussed above,it is the most efficient method of incorporating Entries prepared bymany authors. This one edit method may necessitate a final review of theentire progressive reference before publication to make certain thatEntries do not miss an important detail from earlier in the Source Text.

A reminder that, in Step 17, the preparer has the opportunity, onceagain to add non-Source Text material to each final edited Entry such asa dictionary definition, but it is the object of the invention not toreveal information from following pages. Preferably, the informationprovided by an Entry may provide hints, but does not unduly revealinformation that will spoil the suspense or add an unnecessary burdenfor the reader.

This invention also includes means for automating the ProgressiveReference preparation process using a computer program that uses queriesto take the preparer through the steps described above. Starting on pageone, the program would read the source text. The preparer's GUI wouldallow the preparer to identify those words in the text that the programshould copy into column 4 as a new Key Entry. Each time a Key Entryreappeared in the text, the program would copy it into column 4. When soentering a Key Entry, the GUI would also indicate the place informationin the appropriate columns. The program would also copy into column 6all previous Entries.

In addition to presenting the Source Text as a convenient way for theGUI to identify existing Key Entries and for the preparer to identifynew Key Entries in column 5, the GUI would prompt the preparer to createKey Entries other than words taken directly from the Source Text.Examples of such GUI prompts could include “Any major ideas or themes onthis page? It could provide a check list of previous Key Entries incertain categories organized by the preparer. And, it could prompt forEntries of other types, such as film clips and GUIs, or for Entries ofexternal information such as histories, allusions and translations.

Example of Preparation of a Progressive Reference

Here is an example of a Progressive Reference for the first seven pagesof Harry Potter. Key Entries are in Italics:

Step 1: Information is entered from the page itself and, when and ifappropriate, from outside sources:

Volume 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Progressive ReferenceAfter Completing Step 1a Page 1 Step 1a Chapter 1 The Boy Who Lived

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley

The Dursleys live at number four Privet Drive. Privet is a type of hedgethat makes for landscaping that creates the appearance of tidiness andorder. In French, it means private or hidden.

The Dursleys are “Perfectly normal,” and don't “hold with . . . anythingstrange or mysterious.

The Dursleys have everything they want.

But, the have a secret, and,

Their greatest fear is that someone will discover their secret. Mr.Dursley,

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills

Big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache. Mrs. Dursley

Thin and blonde with a long neck

Spies on neighbors

Dudley Dursley

Small son doted on by his parents

Page 2 Step 1a The Potters

Mrs. Potter is Mrs. Dursley's sister.

Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Dursley haven't met for several years.

Mrs. Dursley pretends she doesn't have a sister.

Mrs. Dursley thinks that Mr. Potter is a “good-for-nothing.”

The Potters' Small Son

The Dursley's have never seen him and they don't want their son mixingwith “a child like that.”

Dudley Dursley

Having a tantrum; the Dursleys love him anyway.

Strange Things

Will soon be happening all over the country

Its Tuesday

A cloudy sky

Large Tawny Owl

Tawny is a color; a light brown to brownish orange

Flutters past the Dursley's window.

Mr. Dursley

Dotes on his son even when he is having a tantrum

Thinks he sees a cat reading a map, dismisses it as impossible

A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called simply a Tabby.

Is sitting on the corner consulting a map

A Map

Is being read by a tabby cat on the corner in front of the Dursley'shouse

Page 3 Step 1a

Mr. Dursley

Disbelieves his first notion that he saw a cat on the corner consultinga map and, later, reading a street sign

Hoping to get a large order of drills

Is driving to town and arrives at his office after seeing people dressedin cloaks

Always sits with his back to the window in his office on the 9th floor

Cat

Reads the sign that says Privet Drive

Map

Disappears

People in Cloaks

Encountered by Mr. Dursley, on his way to work, on the edge of town,while in the usual traffic jam

Cloaks

A cloak is a loose outer garment, such as a cape.

A cloak can conceal what is inside.

Worn by people milling about the edge of town on Tuesday morning

Traffic Jam

Mr. Dursley usually finds himself in a traffic jam on the way to work

Emerald-green Cloak

Worn by a man who is older than Mr. Dursley. He is seen by Mr. Dursleymilling about on Tuesday morning whit other strangely dressed people.

“Green gives stability, endurance and quietude. People with the luminousgreen of Saturn in their aura are the harmonizers and pacifiers of theworld. They stand for social stability.”© S.F.Heart.com)

Owls

Seen swooping about in broad daylight, past Mr. Dursley's window, abovegaping onlookers.

Owls usually fly silently and at night so are seldom seen by peopleoutside of zoos.

Page 4 Step 1a

Mr. Dursley

Likes to yell at people

Eats buns (donuts)

Hears on Tuesday morning, the strangely dressed people talking excitedlyabout the Potters

Harry Potter

Is the son of the Potters

Page 5 Step 1a Tiny Old Man in Violet Cloak

With a squeaky voice (What is the significance of a tiny man with asqueaky voice?)

Is bumped into by Mr. Dursley on Tuesday morning outside Mr. Dursley'soffice

Is rejoicing

“Violet is the seventh and last color of the spectrum. It represents theseventh and highest quality a person attains-noble spiritual aspiration.Therefore it has always been connected to the priestly ceremonies.Purple and violet speak of honor, spirituality and self-esteem.”©S.F.Heart.com) Mr. Dursley

Outside Mr. Dursley's office on Tuesday morning, Mr. Dursley bumps intoa tiny old man in a violet cloak who speaks to him rejoicing in what hashappened.

Doesn't approve of imagination

Returning from work on Tuesday morning, sees the same tabby cat sittingon wall; loudly shoos cat.

You-Know-Who

Reputed to be gone at last

Muggles

People like Mr. Dursley

Tabby Cat

Sitting on wall, at the end of the workday on Tuesday, when Mr. Dursleyreturns home

Has markings around its eyes

Page 6 Step 1a Tabby Cat

When shooed, doesn't move; gives stern look to Mr. Dursley

Owls

Hundreds are sighted around the nation on Tuesday

Shooting Stars

There is a “downpour” of them on Tuesday

Predicted Rain

Doesn't happen on Tuesday

Page 7 Step 1a

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley

On Tuesday evening, discuss the Potters and the strange goings on intown.

Harry Potter

Is Dudley's age

Dudley

Is Harry's age

Tabby Cat

Is still there, Tuesday night looking expectedly down Privet Drive “asthough it were waiting for someone.”Step 1b: The preparer copies, foreach Entry, all of the information from the previous Entry for the sameKey Entry. If this were to be done automatically, the software wouldcopy and paste the previous Entry in front of, or before, the Entrybeing prepared.

Here is the result of Step 1b for the first seven pages:

Volume 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Progressive Concordance

After completing Step 1b

Page 1 Step 1b Chapter 1 The Boy Who Lived

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley

The Dursleys Live at number four Privet Drive Privet is a type of hedgethat makes for landscaping that creates the appearance of tidiness andorder. In French, it means private or hidden.

“Perfectly normal,” and don't “hold with . . . anything strange ormysterious

Have everything they want

Have a secret

Their greatest fear is that someone will discover their secret Mr.Dursley

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills

Big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache. Mrs. Dursley

Thin and blonde with a long neck

Spies on neighbors

Dudley Dursley

Small son doted on by his parents

Page 2 Step 1b The Potters

Mrs. Potter is Mrs. Dursley's sister.

Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Dursley haven't met for several years.

Mrs. Dursley pretends she doesn't have a sister.

Mrs. Dursley thinks that Mr. Potter is a “good-for-nothing.”

The Potters' Small Son

The Dursley's have never seen him and they don't want their son mixingwith “a child like that.”

Dudley Dursley

Small son doted on by his parents

Having a tantrum; the Dursleys love him anyway.

Strange Things

Will soon be happening all over the country

Its Tuesday

A cloudy sky

Large Tawny Owl

Tawny is a color; a light brown to brownish orange

Flutters past the Dursley's window. Mr. Dursley

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills

Big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache

Dotes on his son even when he is having a tantrum

Thinks he sees a cat reading a map, dismisses it as impossible

A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called simply a Tabby. Is sitting on the corner consulting amap

A Map

Is being read by a tabby cat on the corner in front of the Dursley'shouse

Page 3 Step 1b

Mr. Dursley

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills

Big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache

Dotes on his son even when he is having a tantrum

Disbelieves his notion that he saw a cat on the corner consulting a mapand, later, reading a street sign

Hoping to get a large order of drills

Is driving to town and arrives at his office after seeing people dressedin cloaks

-   -   Always sits with his back to the window in his office on the 9th        floor

A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called simply a Tabby.

Is sitting on the corner, in front of the Dursleys' house, consulting amap and reading the street sign that says Privet Drive

A Map

Is being read by a tabby cat on the corner in front of the Dursley'shouse

Disappears

People in Cloaks

Encountered by Mr. Dursley, on his way to work, on the edge of town,while in the usual traffic jam

Cloaks

Worn by people milling about the edge of town on Tuesday morning

A cloak is a loose outer garment, such as a cape.

A cloak can conceal what is inside

Traffic Jam

Mr. Dursley usually finds himself in a traffic jam on the way to work

Emerald-Green Cloak

Worn by a man who is older than Mr. Dursley. He is seen by Mr. Dursleymilling about on Tuesday morning whit other strangely dressed people.

Owls

Seen swooping about in broad daylight, past Mr. Dursley's window, abovegaping onlookers. This is unusual. Owls usually fly silently and atnight so are seldom seen by people outside of zoos.

Page 4 Step 1b

Mr. Dursley

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills

Big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache

Dotes on his son even when he is having a tantrum

Disbelieves his first notion that he saw a cat on the corner consultinga map and, later, reading a street sign

Hoping to get a large order of drills

Is driving to town and arrives at his office after seeing people dressedin cloaks

Always sits with his back to the window in his office on the 9th floor

Likes to yell at people

Eats buns (donuts)

On Tuesday morning, hears the strangely dressed people talking excitedlyabout the

Potters

Harry Potter

Is the son of the Potters

The Dursley's have never seen him and they don't want their son, Dudley,mixing with “a child like that.”

Page 5 Step 1b Tiny Old Man in Violet Cloak

With a squeaky voice (What is the significance of a tiny man with asqueaky voice?)

Is bumped into by Mr. Dursley on Tuesday morning outside Mr. Dursley'soffice

Is rejoicing

Mr. Dursley

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills

Big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache

Dotes on his son even when he is having a tantrum

Thinks he sees a cat reading a map, dismisses it as impossible

Disbelieves his first notion that he saw a cat on the corner consultinga map and, later, reading a street sign

Hoping to get a large order of drills

Is driving to town and arrives at office after seeing people dressed incloaks

Always sits with his back to the window in his office on the 9th floor

Likes to yell at people

Eats buns (donuts)

Hears on Tuesday morning, the strangely dressed people talking excitedlyabout the

Potters

Bumps into tiny old man in a violet cloak on Tuesday morning outside Mr.Dursley's office

Doesn't approve of imagination

Returning from work on Tuesday morning, sees the same tabby cat sittingon wall; loudly shoos cat.

You-Know-Who

Reputed to be gone at last

Muggles

People like Mr. Dursley

A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called simply a Tabby.

Is sitting on the corner reading a map

Reads the sign that says Privet Drive

Sitting on wall, at the end of the workday, on Tuesday, when Mr. Dursleyreturns

Has markings around its eyes

Page 6 Step 1b A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called simply a Tabby.

Is sitting on the corner consulting a map and reading the street signthat says Privet Drive

Sitting on wall, at the end of the workday, on Tuesday, when Mr. Dursleyreturns

Has markings around its eyes

When shooed, doesn't move; gives stern look to Mr. Dursley

Owls

Seen swooping about in broad daylight, past Mr. Dursley's window, abovegaping onlookers. This is especially unusual because owls fly silentlyand at night so are seldom seen by people by people outside of zoos.

Hundreds are sighted around the nation on Tuesday

Shooting Stars

There is a “downpour” of them on Tuesday

Predicted Rain

Doesn't happen on Tuesday

Page 7 Step 1b

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley

Live at number four Privet Drive

“Perfectly normal,” and don't “hold with . . . anything strange ormysterious

Have everything they want

Have a secret

Their greatest fear is that someone will discover their secret

On Tuesday evening, discuss the Potters and the strange goings on intown.

Harry Potter

The Dursley's have never seen him and they don't want their son mixingwith “a child like that.”

Is Dudley's age

Dudley

Small son doted on by his parents

Having a tantrum; the Dursleys love him anyway.

Is Harry's age

A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called simply a Tabby.

Is sitting on the corner consulting a map and reading the street signthat says Privet Drive

Sitting on wall, at the end of the workday, on Tuesday, when Mr. Dursleyreturns

Has markings around its eyes

When shooed, doesn't move; gives stern look to Mr. Dursley

Is still there, Tuesday night looking expectedly down Privet Drive “asthough it were waiting for someone.”Step 2: The preparer edits eachEntry by removing what is redundant or now irrelevant. The prepareredits the Entry for brevity, comprehension and emphasis.

Here is the final version the Progressive Reference through Page 7

Volume 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Progressive Reference

After Completing Steps 1a and 1b

Page 1

Step 2

Chapter 1

The Boy Who Lived

-   -   Mr. and Mrs. Dursley

The Dursleys Live at number four Privet Drive. Privet is a type of hedgethat makes for landscaping that creates the appearance of tidiness andorder. In French, it means private or hidden.

The Dursleys are “Perfectly normal,” and don't “hold with . . . anythingstrange or mysterious.

They have everything they want.

They have a secret, and

Their greatest fear is that someone will discover their secret. Mr.Dursley

Is the Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills.

He is big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache. Mrs. Dursley

Is thin and blonde with a long neck.

She enjoys spying on her neighbors.

Dudley Dursley

Dudley is the Dursley's small son. He is doted on by his parents.

Page 2 Step 2 The Potters

Mrs. Potter is Mrs. Dursley's sister. The two have not met for severalyears. [0270] Mrs. Dursley pretends she doesn't have a sister and shethinks that her sister's husband Mr. Potter is a “good-for-nothing.”

The Potters' Small Son

The Potters have a small son whom the Dursley's have never seen. Theydon't want their son mixing with “a child like that.”

Dudley Dursley

The Dursleys have a small son whom they dote on even when he is having atantrum

Strange Things

Will soon be happening all over the country

It's a cloudy Tuesday.

Large Tawny Owl

Tawny is a color; a light brown to brownish orange.

The large tawny owl flutters past the Dursley's window. Mr. Dursley

Is the Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills. He is bigand beefy with a short neck and large mustache.

Mr. Dursley dotes on his small son even when he is having a tantrum.

Mr. Dursley thinks he sees a cat reading a map, dismisses it asimpossible

A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called, simply, a Tabby.

Mr. Dursley sees one sitting on the corner consulting a map

A Map

Is being read by a tabby cat on the corner in front of the Dursleys'house.

Page 3 Step 2

Mr. Dursley

Mr. Dursley is the Director of a firm called Grunnings which makesdrills. He is big and beefy with a short neck and large mustache.

Mr. Dursley dotes on his small son even when he is having a tantrum.

Mr. Dursley disbelieves his notion that he saw a cat on the cornerconsulting a map and, later, reading a street sign.

Mr. Dursley is hoping to get a large order of drills.

On his way to the office, while waiting in the usual traffic jam, hesees people dressed in cloaks.

Mr. Dursley always sits with his back to the window in his office on the9th floor.

A Tabby Cat

A Tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called, simply, a Tabby.

A Tabby is sitting on the corner in front of the Dursleys' houseconsulting a map and reading the street sign that says Privet Drive

A Map

Mr. Dursley sees a map being read by a tabby cat on the corner in frontof his house.

When Mr. Dursley looks again, the map has disappeared.

People in Cloaks

Mr. Dursley sees people in cloaks on the edge of town, on his way to hisoffice.

Cloaks

Cloaks are worn by the people whom Mr. Dursley sees milling about theedge of town on Tuesday morning.

A cloak is a loose outer garment, such as a cape.

A cloak can conceal what is inside

Traffic Jam

Mr. Dursley usually finds himself in a traffic jam on the way to work.

Emerald-Green Cloak

Mr. Dursley, on Tuesday morning sees a man, older than himself wearingan emerald-green cloak. The man is milling about with other strangelydressed people. [0300]“Green gives stability, endurance and quietude.People with the luminous green of Saturn in their aura are theharmonizers and pacifiers of the world. They stand for socialstability.” © S.F.Heart.com) Emerald-Green may connote Irish.

Owls

Seen swooping about in broad daylight, past Mr. Dursley's window, abovegaping onlookers. This is unusual. Owls usually fly silently and atnight so are seldom seen by people outside of zoos.

Page 4 Step 2

Mr. Dursley

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills. He is bigand beefy with a short neck and large mustache.

Mr. Dursley dotes on his son even when he is having a tantrum.

Mr. Dursley disbelieves his first notion that he saw a cat on the cornerconsulting a map and, later, reading a street sign.

Mr. Dursley is hoping to get a large order of drills.

On his way to the office, while waiting in the usual traffic jam, Mr.Dursley sees people dressed in cloaks.

Mr. Dursley always sits with his back to the window in his office on the9th floor [0309]

Mr. Dursley likes to yell at people

Mr. Dursley eats buns (donuts)

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Dursley hears the strangely dressed peopletalking excitedly about the Potters

Harry Potter

Harry is the son of the Potters. The Dursley's have never seen him. Theydo not want their son, Dudley, mixing with “a child like that.”

Page 5 Step 2 Tiny Old Man in Violet Cloak

Outside Mr. Dursley's office, on Tuesday morning, Mr. Dursley bumps into(literally!) a tiny old man, in a violet cloak, with a squeaky voice.

The tiny old man in a violet cloak speaks to Mr. Dursley happilyexcusing him and rejoicing about what has happened.

What is the significance of a tiny man with a squeaky voice? What is thesignificance of the color violet? (There is a plant called magicviolet.) Mr. Dursley

The Director of a firm called Grunnings which makes drills. He is bigand beefy with a short neck and large mustache.

Mr. Dursley dotes on his son even when he is having a tantrum

Mr. Dursley disbelieves his first notion that he saw a cat on the cornerconsulting a map and, later, reading a street sign.

Mr. Dursley is hoping to get a large order of drills

On his way to the office, while waiting in the usual traffic jam, Mr.Dursley sees people dressed in cloaks.

Mr. Dursley always sits with his back to the window in his office on the9th floor [0322] Mr. Dursley likes to yell at people

Mr. Dursley eats buns (donuts)

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Dursley hears the strangely dressed peopletalking excitedly about the Potters.

Outside Mr. Dursley's office, on Tuesday morning, Mr. Dursley bumps into(literally!) a tiny old man, in a violet cloak, with a squeaky voice.

Mr. Dursley doesn't approve of imagination

Returning from work on Tuesday morning, Mr. Dursley sees the same tabbycat sitting on wall; loudly shoos cat.

You-Know-Who

Reputed to be gone at last

Muggles

People like Mr. Dursley

A Tabby Cat

A tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called, simply, a Tabby.

A tabby is sitting on the corner in front of the Dursleys' houseconsulting a map and reading the street sign that says Privet Drive

The tabby is still sitting on a wall in front of the Dursley house, atthe end of the workday, on Tuesday, when Mr. Dursley returns

The tabby has markings around its eyes

Page 6 Step 2 A Tabby Cat

A tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called simply a tabby.

A tabby, with markings around its eyes, is sitting on the corner infront of the Dursleys' house when Mr. Dursley leaves the house onTuesday morning. The tabby is consulting a map and reading the streetsign that says Privet Drive. The tabby is still sitting on a wall infront of the Dursley house, at the end of the workday, on Tuesday, whenMr. Dursley returns. When shooed, the tabby doesn't move; instead itgives a stem look to Mr. Dursley.

Owls

Seen swooping about in broad daylight, past Mr. Dursley's window, abovegaping onlookers. This is unusual. Owls usually fly silently and atnight so are seldom seen by people by people outside of zoos.

Hundreds are sighted around the nation on Tuesday

Shooting Stars

There is a “downpour” of them on Tuesday

Predicted Rain

Doesn't happen on Tuesday

Page 7 Step 2

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley

The Dursleys Live at number four Privet Drive. Privet is a type of hedgethat makes for landscaping that creates the appearance of tidiness andorder. In French, it means private or hidden.

The Dursleys are “Perfectly normal.” They don't “hold with . . .anything strange or mysterious.

They have everything they want.

They have a secret, and

Their greatest fear is that someone will discover their secret.

On Tuesday evening, the Dursleys discuss the Potters and the strangegoings on in town.

Harry Potter

Harry is the son of the Potters. The Dursleys have never seen him. He isthe Dursley's son, Dudley's age. The Dursleys do not want Dudley, mixingwith “a child like that.”

Dudley

Dudley the son of the Dursleys is Harry's age. He is doted on by hisparents. [0349] Even when he has a tantrum; the Dursleys love himanyway.

A Tabby Cat

A tabby cat is a cat with a gray or tawny coat mottled with black. It issometimes called, simply, a tabby.

A tabby, with markings around its eyes, is sitting on the corner infront of the Dursleys' house when Mr. Dursley leaves the house onTuesday morning. The tabby is consulting a map and reading the streetsign that says Privet Drive. The tabby is still sitting on a wall infront of the Dursley house, at the end of the workday, on Tuesday, whenMr. Dursley returns. When shooed, the tabby doesn't move; instead itgives a stern look to Mr. Dursley. After Mr. Dursley goes into hishouse, the tabby looks expectedly down Privet Drive “as though it werewaiting for someone.”

Another particularly desirable implementation of the describedtechnology is to provide an interactive site with the progressivedefinitions thereon. In that embodiment, distal electronic users may addto or enhance or comment upon the available progressive definitionsthrough the internet. A modified version of this format would be for aregular update of the progressive definitions on-line by central systemapproval. As definitions collect on the open website, a centraladministrator will review the suggested changes and decide which if anyproposed changes will be accepted. This would protect a base of theprogressive definition technology against graffiti, vandalism or otherintentional or unintentional damage. The review of the suggestions couldbe made at any time interval, such as daily, weekly, monthly, or thelike.

The original patent application, U.S. Ser. No. 10/951,313, filed 27 Sep.2005, from which this application claims priority, addresses severalways to reduce the cost and time for preparation of a ProgressiveReference. The new information provides a Progressive Reference that,while not as exact as a Progressive Reference prepared in the waysdescribed in the patent application—and therefore, only valuable whenthe time and cost require a simpler preparation method—can be preparedsemi-automatically and, even, totally automatically.

If the user is reading a Primary work using a computer, a website, orother type of electronic reader, the reader can assemble a ProgressiveReference on the fly. This is called a Previous Occurrence

To prepare a Previous Occurrence (A Progressive Reference on the fly),the reader, with the aid of a computer application, can call upinformation already in the Primary text to serve as the Source ofInformation the reader needs. Here is how one embodiment of a PreviousOccurrence assembled or prepared by the reader appears to the reader:

The reader touches on, or looks up, the key-word (e.g., selected by thereader) with respect to a specific text. First, the sentence with thelast occurrence of the key word in the specific text is instantlydisplayed. This initial step, of course, can operate similarly to theEdit/FIND function in word processors. The “FIND” function lets a readerfind the previous, and next, occurrence of a word in an identifieddocument, but does no more than highlight that term, or (using theFind/Replace function) replace that term with another specific term. Itdisplays the full page with each occurrence of the word highlighted.But, it is a four-step process that requires the user to (1) Be in thedocument, (2) Call up the find function. (Control-F), (3) Type thekey-word in the dialogue box, and (4) hit return. The “FIND” dialoguebox stays on the screen, and allows the reader to go to the nextoccurrence, or previous occurrence of the word.) Find ordinarily scansthe documents and immediately highlights and travels to the firstappearance of the word or the next appearance. It also does not have afunction of immediately returning to the last appearance.

In the simplest version of a Previous Occurrence (Also referred toherein as a Progressive Reference LITE), only the last sentence in whichthe word occurred is reproduced. In a preferred version, the sentencealong with some previous sentences and some following sentences arereproduced, identified (e.g., page and line number), or accessible inboth forward (next, next [number, e.g., 2, 3, 5, etc.], previous orprevious [number]. The choice of how many, if any, surrounding sentencesare presented may also be accomplished by a user selectable setting,which is simple to program, or it is determined automatically and/or bydefault, if inexactly, by a program that selects the contiguoussentences that contain nouns and pronouns that suggest the contiguoussentences may deal with the same subject. Additionally, once thatprevious appearance has been revealed, there could/should be anautomatic expansion function, such as the direction arrows allowing forexpansion of the view of the text in different directions in the text,forward, backwards or both. Any position within the text may be selectedas a reference point or starting point for a term. For example, if it isrecalled that a character is introduced at a certain point in the story,or if there is a particular fact about a character that is desired at agenerally known portion of the story, that point may be accessed and thesearch begun centrally from that point in the text.

The Previous Occurrence system next allows the reader to iteratebackward as an automated function, if the reader wants more information,by “touching” (e.g., highlighting and engaging the function,right-button clicking, etc.) any word in the reference/citation. Thereader can keep touching a word in each subsequent reference, back tothe beginning of the book. Keep in mind, when iterating backward, thesystem remembers where the user started so that each time a key word isqueried, even within a Progressive Reference citation, the new referenceor citation is allowed to come only from text that has occurred prior tothe location of the original key-word before the reader started toiterate the look-up. A “return” icon may be provided during the functionto return the cursor and text function back to the original cite wherethe program was initiated.

A further feature of the Previous Occurrence allows a reader to expandthe text of the reference/citation by touching a command that may beprovided as an icon or by using existing keyboard buttons (such as thearrows) when the function is engaged.

A further use of artificial intelligence will for the reader, or apreparer, automatically to assemble a reference combining severalprevious occurrences of the word with redundancies eliminated.

The print version of a Previous Occurrence contains the last one, two,or more occurrences of a key-word surrounded by selected, relevant text.A web site can easily have all of the functionality described above.

The present technology covers a search engine, different searchparameters, and/or different search results and quality depending on thestated characteristics of the user. The term “Search Engine” may alsoinclude the traditional term “Web page.” (Mark, since we want to coverboth Search Engines, per se, and all web pages, can we be more specificrather than say that, “The term ‘Search Engine’ may include thetraditional term ‘webpage?” You may have meant the reverse—that awebpage includes a search engine, but it might be stronger to cover themindividually The process and technology described may also apply to moreimmediately observable or readable content on the source or segment, andmay be displayed in header format, such as footnotes or endnotes. Thesewould be glossary-type definitions that follow our Progressive Referencerules. That is, they are unique to where the key-word occurs in thetext, and not revelatory of information that occurs later in the text,i.e., a “spoiler.” (Avoiding Premature Revelation.)

There are underlying techniques, methods, software and hardware that maybe used to implement the technology described herein. Variousalternatives and embodiments are described herein which are not intendedto limit the scope of the invention, but provide species examples of thegeneric concepts that are the subject matter of the claimed invention.

There is a simplified way of providing progressive references within anelectronic text that may be described as follows. As is understood inthe art, each appearance of a word or phrase is readily identifiedwithin the electronic data or electronic file within which the wordappears. The appearance of a word or phrase on a screen is merely thetransportation of that data and its location and stimulating pixels onthe viewing screen to reflect the position of the word or text withinthe entire screen display of data. There are existing functions in wordprocessing and text display technologies that allow a user to highlighta word, text or image (hereinafter referred to generically as “displayedtext”) on a screen so that, at least temporarily, some level of memoryis aware of the highlighting of the displayed text and its positionwithin the complete electronic text or file. One aspect of the presentprogressive reference system is to provide in essence a correspondinglook-up table or position-sensitive file such that when the progressivereference function is available (e.g., turned on), highlighting,touching or otherwise specifically identifying a displayed text willcall up or pop-up a reference/definition/text/hypertext/link or the likethat is position sensitive to the displayed text.

For example, the term “murder victim” may appear one hundred (100) timeswithin a complete text. As each occurrence of the term appears in thecomplete text, some additional level of information on the “murdervictim” may be added in the complete work. For the first fiveappearances of the term in the complete work, the correspondingreference brought up by activating the term might be A) “a male body,found in the card room of the Washington Downs Card Room, dead of asingle stab wound.” As the story progresses, and additional informationis provided in the story text on the murder victim, the sixth appearanceof the displayed term may reference a different portion of the look-uptable or reference to position correspondence data to state B) “DanielFontainbleu, the tax attorney who was found in the card room of theWashington Downs Card Room, dead of a single stab wound.” After threemore appearances of the displayed text ‘murder victim’, the referencebrought up by activating the displayed term might be C) “DanielFontainbleu, the murdered tax attorney who did work for both theCardright Corporation and Stefano Napoli, a local bookie.” Theprogressive reference could work by having each position of thedisplayed text given a relative or specific location indicator in theelectronic file or text, such as appearances 1, 2, 3, . . . 100. Whendisplayed text having a position indicator of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 isactivated under the progressive reference system, the correspondencefunction of the progressive reference would access only A) from theavailable possible references. For positions 6, 7, 8 and 9 for thedisplayed text that is activated under the progressive referencefunction, only definition or reference text B) would be displayed,either as a pop-up on the screen, bubble text on the screen, in a marginon the screen or as a header or footnote on the screen.

The available progressive references would thus be tied to specificposition indicators and possibly even types of usages of the term orword as used within the text over ranges of the complete text. Onesubfunction in the system might allow users to move backwards throughearlier progressive references if additional information is needed, butnot to allow forward movement through later reference material that hasnot yet been disclosed in the text. It might be possible to allowlimited or full forward movement by specifically asking for a forwardprogression through references, if the designer wished to do so.

The cross-reference functionality could be built into the system byproviding a series or at least one blank cross-function orcross-reference or look-up table to a preparer producing the progressivereference content for a specific work. This functionality also could beprovided to writers during drafting of a book as a tool to assistwriters. Not all words in the text would be provided with a progressivereference function, such as common nouns, common verbs, etc., as thatwould be wasteful. Only terms of some ambiguity or importance would beused in this system. As each instance of the displayed term occurs inthe ongoing text, the drafter or writer would perform at least one ofthe following functions. First, the preparer would write an initialreference and that initial reference would be entered in across-functional, look-up table as the progressive reference for thefirst occurrence of the displayed text. The preparer would then proceedthrough the continuing text, until at least a next occurrence of thedisplayed term appears. The preparer would then decide if there had beenadditional text content that should be included in the next progressivereference, or if the reference to that displayed term should remain thesame. If the determination is that the reference to the displayed termshould remain the same, the preparer will tie that next occurrence tothe original (first) reference definition. The software would thereforeprovide a link of 1^(st) occurrence and second occurrence of [displayedterm]—First reference material. If at the time of the next (in this casethe second) occurrence, additional content should be known about thatterm, a second reference will be added to the reference portion of thefile, and that newer (second in this case) reference would be tied to atleast the encountered next (second) occurrence of the displayed term.

This procedure of evaluating each next occurrence of the displayed termwould be performed by the preparer as the text is moved through. As thereference content is not likely to require changes with each occurrenceof the displayed term in the text, only substantial contextual changeswould need to be reflected in a displayed term, a single term thatappears 100 times in a 400 page text might have cross-reference orprogressive reference tables that would look as follows:

Displayed Term I Occurrences 1-6 DEFINITION/REFERENCE #1 Occurrences 7-9DEFINITION/REFERENCE #2 Occurrences 1-23 DEFINITION/REFERENCE #3Occurrences 24-33 DEFINITION/REFERENCE #4 Occurrences 34-59DEFINITION/REFERENCE #5 Occurrences 60-76 DEFINITION/REFERENCE #6Occurrences 77-93 DEFINITION/REFERENCE #7 Occurrences 94-100DEFINITION/REFERENCE #8

This would also be a very effective tool for a writer to keep track ofthe degree of disclosure intended in the text as it progresses. In thatway, too little or too much will not be provided for the displayed term.In an existing electronic text, a preparer would highlight or button aspecific term, add that term as a specific displayed term for theprogressive reference in an available cross-referencing system (i.e.,the system that connects references to positions of a displayed term inthe text), then the system would automatically or by user input identifythe progressing location within the total text and the preparer wouldcreate a reference for that specific location. The preparer wouldprogress through the text, and either the preparer would highlight thenext and later occurrences himself, or the processor would recognize thepresence of an already established display text term or word on the textand highlight it. The preparer would then determine what if anyadditional information is needed in a progressive reference or that theprevious reference is sufficient. The preparer would then add (tie,table enter) the newest position of the displayed text to an existingreference or tie it to a new progressive reference created by thepreparer. Another way of characterizing the association of positionsensitive text and definitions is for each word to be treated as a keyand changing object. This would form a 1-dimensional array accessedaccording to location in text. X code identifies the reference to therange designation to identify specific locations of an object reference.This enables a position-sensitive key to access different objects in theavailable array.

Buttons follow the target-action design pattern. A button is a userinterface object that sends an action message to a target when clicked.For more information on this design pattern, see “The Target-ActionMechanism” in Cocoa Fundamentals Guide.

Most of the button's work is handled by the NSButtonCell class. AnNSButtonCell instance sends its action message to its target once if itsview is clicked and it gets the mouse-down event, but can also send theaction message continuously as long as the mouse is held down with thecursor inside the button cell. The button cell can show that it's beingpressed by highlighting in several ways—for example, a bordered buttoncell can appear pushed into the screen, or the image or title can changeto an alternate form while the button cell is pressed.

Application or creation of the buttons can be effected by coordinating arange for each word, parsing a word, characterizing font size for theword. The system provides touch sensitivity and function in a preferredmode. The software is preferably coordinated in size to the font for theparticular text. The buttons are not a truly generic software function,but must be trained for each font style and point to create theinvisible button on the text. The system provides buttons for apredetermined list of only specific words. The designer will providebutton positioning for progressive reference. Every button is unique andknows what to do, e.g., buttons for the PR Button. Buttons contain arange identifier.

A software kit, download, CD, memory device or the like can be providedto writers, editors, and/or preparers to create the progressivereference content while writing or editing or working on the text. Asdescribed herein, the kit may be provided to students and teachers foruse in study and learning environments.

In the educational venue, additional capabilities are uniquely availableand uniquely helpful to instructors, aides and students. There can be anInstructor or Teacher's toolkit. The system may be used with studentswherever they are in classrooms or in distance learning courses, orhybrids. At all times, students and teachers can be anywhere reading asingle textbook. As each student scrolls through the text, and asstudents call up specific enhancements such as the ProgressiveReference, Previous Occurrence, Context Sensitive Definitions, searches,and so on, and as questions come in from individual students, theteacher can monitor those words or areas in the text that are receivinghigh volume traffic. Teachers can see where questions are occurring onidentical portions of the reading material. Questions can be tracked,not only collectively, but also to individual students allowing teachersto suggest tutoring on weaknesses for specific groups of students orindividual students. This data surrounding individual words can bedisplayed as a heat map, capable of measuring duration of view (dwelltime) at specific words or portions of the text, as well as use ofenhancements including discussion forums as described in the nextparagraph.

At a central location, as traffic content is monitored, a teachingassistant, professor or other preparer may alter progressive referenceson the fly. The system may also, be used to allow sharing of informationand comments among students—receiving and sharing comments and questionsby students and teachers—all specific to an exact word, location in thetext, idea or event, thus making discussion both pertinent/relevant andmanageable (manageable because discussions are centered on a single wordwill have fewer comments). Lessons for following days, and courseinstruction may be altered and tailored based on analysis student usageand questions they pose to each other and to the teacher. Students mayhighlight and drag specific text into a blank balloon representing aquestion. This can enable the teacher to answer the questionsindividually, collectively, and/or to provide additional enhancements tothe text The teacher may enhance text with something other than his ownthoughts, such as a student insight. Teacher enhancements can includeemphasis on, and hints of, ideas that will be on tests.

Many enhancements will contain videos, graphics, and other data that aresupplied by publishing and content production companies that will paythe operator of the system to have their material be included andcredited. Examples are news services like the New York Times, and videoproduction companies like Discover Communications, The History Channel,NOVA, and National Geographic.

The system can collect reader behavior to help authors and othersunderstand how people are reading their material.

The system includes a Preparer's tool, actually a suite of proprietarysoftware tools, designed to allow any preparer to prepare enhancementsquickly. In addition to increasing a preparer's productivity, each toolwithin the preparer's suite is designed to help the preparer createenhancements centered on each key word's location that are more exact,comprehensible, and concise than would be likely without the tool. Thereare a variety of features that can be used within these preparer's toolsto expedite a preparer's task such as, by way of non-limiting examples:

-   -   (a) A “Text-Screen” displays the text surrounding the keyword,        which is usually a single word, but can be a compound word, a        phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph. The preparer highlights the        keyword to get started.    -   (b) The preparer using the software will place whatever        interactive object (shadowed text or word, highlighted text or        word, e.g., on a touchscreen). The preparer's tool will mark        what word or phrase is to be enhanced. (Is this sentence meant        to explain what the software does after step 1 when the preparer        touches the keyword? It's not clear    -   (c) A second screen, the “Work-Area Screen” displays the        preparer's work area. This screen, when appropriate, includes        hyperlinks to websites like search engines, forums, social        networks, photo libraries, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.    -   (d) A third screen, the “Enhancement Screen,” displays the        enhancement as it is finalized. The preparer indicates when he        is fully satisfied with his enhancement. At that point, the tool        automatically generates the code necessary so that the keyword's        button activates the right enhancement. The preparer can undo        the enhancement and edit it, or start again upon command and        direction.    -   (e) The preparer's Work-Area Screen can show all Previous        Occurrences of the key term, and a history of all of its        enhancements, including not only the enhancements prepared by        this tool and other tools in the preparer's suite, but also        enhancements provided by others, such as by crowd sourcing.    -   (f) The Preparer's tool, depending on instructions in each type        of tool, activates the correct corresponding word, or words, in        another screen.

Although there are 30 or more types of enhancements, and a preparer toolfor each one, all of the tools utilize various formatting techniques andunderlying software such as, but not limited to those described in (a)through (f) above. In addition, many of the available tools use commonsoftware method elements to create the appropriate enhancements andexecute new and unobvious processes under the umbrella of thistechnology. This patent application describes these general softwaremethod elements as classes.

There are approximately 8 general classes of Preparation Tools:

-   -   (1) The first class of preparer's tool is used to prepare a        place-sensitive gloss, called a Progressive Reference” enabling        understanding of a word at a specific location. The gloss comes        exclusively from information supplied previously in the text.        Examples include, (a) “The Story So Far,” (b) characters, (c)        places, (d) ideas and (e) other words defined earlier by the        author; (f) Key Concepts, (g) Paragraph Synopses, and (h)        Rolling Chapter Synopses. This first tool presents the text in        one window, and the keyword's last progressive reference in a        Work-Area Screen. The preparer uses the Work-Area Screen to        prepare a new Progressive Reference. He starts with the last        Progressive Reference, adds new information, deletes some old        information, and edits the result to come up with a new, concise        Progressive Reference. This tool also allows the preparer to        indicate that the last Progressive Reference should be repeated        for this location when there is no important new information yet        in the work for the keyword.    -   (2) A second class of preparer's tool is similar to the first,        but in addition to the tool being preloaded with the text on        which the preparer is working, it is preloaded with caches of        enriching content supplied by the author, editor, and/or        publisher. These caches include images (photos, drawings charts,        tables, and diagrams), author's footnotes, video clips, audio        clips, footnotes, annotations and bibliographies. The preparer        selects what enriching content will be available at specific        locations in the text.    -   (3) A third class of preparer's tool automatically retrieves        information from the text itself. Information of this kind        includes page numbers from a print version of the work, a        Reverse Index entry, and a Find function.    -   (4) These first three tools do not provide a way for the        preparer to leave the tool to add content.    -   (5) A fourth class of preparer's tool provides the preparer        with, not only the original text, but also a way to bring into        the tool appropriate content, like a medical dictionary,        thesaurus, or atlas from which the preparer can select text or        photos. Examples of enhancements prepared this way include        context-sensitive definitions, context-sensitive translations        and context-sensitive pronunciations. In these cases, the        preparer has set up sources from which he likes to quote as        preferences in the Work-Area Screen so that when he highlights a        word in the text, the data appropriate to that word is        automatically drawn from his preferred reference sources. In the        Work-Area Screen, he selects and edits data from his references        for an exact contextual definition, contextual pronunciation,        etc. When he has selected text from such a source, a citation        crediting the source in a standard form such as APA or MLA is        automatically included with the enhancement to avoid plagiarism.    -   (6) A fifth class of preparer's tool is similar to the fourth,        but includes in the Work-Area Screen the first-order results of        an external search. In order for the reader's search to be        targeted to the exact meaning of the word in context, this tool        allows the preparer to see the result of his search, and narrow        it down by amending the search terms, iteratively, until the        search is precisely correct for the word in context. When the        reader activates the search function, the keyword will always be        accompanied by the preparer's added search terms, thus yielding        a search most likely to focus on websites relevant to the true        meaning of the word in context (at a specific location in the        work) and in a frame of reference suggested by the work. The        same manually appended search terms can be used to permit a        reader to find advertising (such as magazine ads that ran        nationally for the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible, or the        most current ad from Medical World News for Lipitor), websites,        applications, games, puzzles, and so on particular to a specific        location in the text, and because the information arises from a        real-time search by the reader, the information is always        up-to-date. This is necessary when the reader is looking for a        reference in a search engine, a shopping engine, or an        encyclopedia. This class may be amended and updated as needed        through internet connection with a central control environment        or preparer accessing the system through a password-encoded        protection entrance to the system.    -   (7) A sixth class of preparer's tools permits readers to enter a        forum in which readers can read and post comments and questions        specific to their exact location in the work. Posters can choose        the granularity of the Progressive Reference Forum so they can        read and write a comment that will be found only at a specific        word, phrase, sentence, or paragraph. Similarly, readers can        make such granularity adjustments to adjust the specificity and        sensitivity of the posts they are reading. The tool allows a        poster to simultaneously or asynchronously read and respond to        other relevant posts. The forum can take place on a web page        dedicated to a single work, or class of works. The forum can be        hosted on Facebook, a dedicated forum, or be organized as        Twitter Feeds. Specific subsets of this class of preparer tool        are designed for Peer Review and for editing where comments have        to be tracked and confirmed.    -   (8) A seventh class of Preparer's tools is similar to the last        class in that it is designed to organize the comments of        specific contributors like teachers, students, expert        annotators, etc. This tool has graphical elements that make it        easy to see who is posting, and who is reading, and to thread        their comments, or to thread types of comments such as likely        quiz questions.    -   (9) Preparer's tools can link, by location in the work, to “heat        maps” for specific words giving authors, teachers, annotators,        editors, and others up-to-date information on reader's choices        of enhancement(s), forum activity, and enhancement and forum        dwell time for each location in the text It is believed that the        described network will be able to handle large forums around        individual words, and to track and report on them.    -   (10) An eighth class of Preparer's tool is specific to the        preparation of a “Smart Previous Occurrence.” This tool makes it        easy for a preparer to quickly find previous occurrences that        are synonyms of the keyword. (A variant on this tool allows a        Smart Global Find—a word is found, including synonyms of the        word, throughout the text) In the Work-Area Screen, a reveal of        the previous text is displayed as the preparer moves his cursor        back. As a time-saver, the revealed text has all of the nouns        highlighted. (A supporting, dictionary-based engine identifies        all nouns and gerunds. Once the preparer highlights the full        synonym, at the preparer's option, the synonym may automatically        be entered into a table that is used by the if/then algorithm        that substitutes Smart Previous Occurrences. The code is not all        that dissimilar to “search for” functions provided in Word        Processing software, adding a “backwards vector functionality to        the search. This means “search for the user selected word,” but        only up to that word's previous position. A Smart Previous        Occurrence is a novel format of a Progressive Reference The        preparer flags the Progressive Reference so that the reader        software knows that the Progressive Reference is to be        substituted for the automatically generated Previous Occurrence.        Instead of the reader application entering the Previous        Occurrence search process described above, it displays the        Progressive Reference (the Smart Previous Occurrence in this        case) instead.    -   (11) All Preparer tools may allow the preparer to create “nested        enhancements.” A nested enhancement provides a tool's        enhancement function within an enhancement. A preparer could        continue through many levels depending on a cost/benefit        analysis. The argument for nesting is that a Progressive        Reference may include words that a reader would like help with.        The tension is that permutations at ever decreasing levels can        be cost-prohibitive. It will be helpful that often an        enhancement can be reused.    -   (12) Any text can be linked to preparer defined metadata whether        that be more text, media, or any digital pointer to more        information.        There are a number of general types of tools that may be        provided within the total system or variations of the system.        1) The Reader Tool. This is the interface between the reader and        the system, and may use any language or I/O interface that can        control positioning of the focus or highlighting of the target        terms.        2) The Tracker Tool. This is the tool that tells authors,        teachers and others what readers are doing and tracks where the        readers are.        3) A server-based Forum. This may work as a server-based forum,        and optionally have versions that work as do Facebook and        Twitter or other social networking applications or forums. The        forum based system is novel because it is linked to individual        words and phrases rather than books.        4) A custom data structure that allows an efficient way to store        and access all the work's keywords and enhancements in all        appropriate memories including hard, random, and network. Such a        custom data structure is more efficient than using        human-readable XML code. Thus, all Progressive Reference data        should be storable and accessible without running out of memory.        5) Internet based communications applications that allow the        Reader to communicate with the Forum. This may be included in        the Reader tool.        8) Internet based communications applications that allow the        Tracker to talk to the Forum. This may, for example, also be        included in the Tracker Tool, or in the Reader with support from        system databases. The Reader would track what users do and send        that information to a central database for monitoring and        reporting purposes.        9) A reading/selection/display algorithm would be optimized to        deal with potentially very large data sets. Each word in the        text could be a Key to multiple enhancement entries, especially        to have the enhancements be not only context-specific, but also        user-specific. This would be done so each word that the user can        touch upon can conceivably return a large number of different        data entries. It is likely that statistical analysis software        would be coupled with visualization software to create the ‘Heat        Maps.’        Annotation with Variable Granularity

A user setting, by default or as an option, which allows the user to goto a forum that categorizes discussions based on where that the user isin a text. (A forum is a dedicated forum, or a Facebook™ page or TwitterFeed) Progressive References, Contextual Definitions, PreviousOccurrences, and other enhancements are brought up by the readertouching on a keyword. However, some enhancements can be logicallyrelated to two or more words. Examples are annotations, footnotes,synopses, phrase origins and forums. When a reader wishes to key off asentence, a group of sentences, or a paragraph, rather than a singleword, that option is available. Reader determined granularity can solvethe problem of generating too few or too many comments or comments thatare too narrow or too broad. When a reader highlights the group of wordshe wants to make his “keyword” the enlarged highlighting tells thesystem what forum to go to. If different readers ask for a forum onsentences that overlap, the system takes the sum of both user's requeststo arrive at a group of contiguous words.

Grouped Enhancements

An easy and efficient way for a reader to quickly catch up in a word isto enable the reader to see a group of all enhancements in a block oftext such as a paragraph.

Although the practice of the present technology can operate on manydifferent apparatus formats, especially any comprising a processorconfigured to operate the process, software and functions describedherein, and a viewing screen that is responsive to reader input (e.g.,by cursor-mouse activation, touch-screen operation, voice activation andthe like), the operation of the combinations of technology creates aunique system.

It must also be remembered that a display screen used in the system isessentially devoid of any organized distribution of light and darkpatterns in the absence of direction by the software driving theprocessor and user input. Operation of the system locally stimulateslocal screen functionality (electron-beam stimulation, liquid crystalsystems, light-emitting diodes, plasma screens and the like aretransformed in their light-emitting distribution and display with notonly primary text to be read, but also the secondary content provided byProgressive References, Previous Occurrences, other enhancements, andthe creation and operation of the other tools described herein.

1. Streaming video snippets. Touch on any word in the text, and thesystem will still recognize a position in the text. When there is avideo or movie counterpart of the text (or even multiple versions may beaccessed, such as the 1940 movie version of Jane Austen's Pride andPrejudice, the 1985, or 1995 BBC TV production of Pride and Prejudice oreven the “Bollywood” production of Bride and Prejudice may be called upin that precise point in the movie. That scene may be played for as longas you like.2. Examples. This enhancement provides an alternative contextuallycorrect examples of the term or idea.

In preparing these alternative connect routes or enhancements, they tellthe reader software what word/phrase to enhance and what type ofenhancement they are, e.g., a video, sound clip, definition,substitution, etc. Logically, the reader software would load theenhancement file, and when it reached a substitution-type enhancement,it would display the substitution instead of the original text. Thereare basically three types of enhancements or connections that may bemade through the present system: A simple text enhancement; a networkedenhancement; and a multimedia enhancement.

Scholastic Environment—Forum Instruction

-   -   Forums allow a reader to exchange comments with other readers.        Because these forums are centered on specific words or phrases,        there can be a relatively small number of interesting comments        rather than hundreds of comments that may or may not be relevant        to where a reader is in the text.    -   Teachers and students can use forums to enhance computer and        eBook-based assignments. Teachers will be able to track        students' learning and tailor future lessons based upon        individual student's performance. Students will have access to        textbook forums with supplemental exercises, answers to existing        questions, and commentary from noted experts in the specific        field. Students will be able to add their own notes to a text,        and share these notes with the teacher and fellow students.        Teachers will be able to share their course notes and        assignments with other teachers at other institutions, thus        creating a pool of resources for different courses.

Another aspect of the present technology will be discussed under anoperating name, for which trademarks may be sought as “Magic Reader”™electronic reader system. A system that allows for metadata to beapplied to any electronic document after it's been created/distributedwithout the need to modify the original source text. These documentsinclude but are not limited to ePUBs, PDFs, .docs, .ppts, .rtfs and.txts. Magic Reader™ system changes a document from a closed, staticmeans of expression into a portal of user-generated and automatedcontext-sensitive information.

Magic Reader™ system effectively turns any electronic text into anupdatable/patchable data object that allows for full manipulation saidtext. Text/media can be added, deleted, or marked up in many ways.

Examples

-   -   Embed context-sensitive word-triggered video tutorials in        manuals    -   Make character names “clickable” to show pictures, bios,        progressive references, video clips, etc., once clicked    -   Append new data to scientific documents    -   Apply corrections directly to older newspaper and magazine        articles    -   Allow textbook publisher to remove Pluto from list of planets in        old text books    -   Allow a teacher to enhance an eVersion of Jane Austen's Pride        and Prejudice with adaptive learning quizzes, idiom glossaries,        timelines, etc. The teacher will receive the students'        behavioral analytics        This system can benefit the reader in many different milieu:    -   A sports fan, when reading an article on the nytimes.com, a user        can touch on the phrase ‘Uribe's home-run’ to cause a pop-up        video of the home-run from the night before.    -   A student, when reading Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, can        click on an idiomatic phrase to see his teacher's contextual        definition of that phrase.    -   A scientist, when reading a two-year old scientific journal        article, can click on a word or graph to see an updated data        set.    -   A doctor, when reading a journal article, can click on a term        that was used earlier in the document to refresh his memory of        what the author has already explained.        This system is significantly different from what is commercially        available at the present time. Currently, there is no way for        anyone to create enhancements for documents. Companies like        Apture and Hyperword provide automated semi-contextual, pop-up        searches but do not allow for the creation of authors'        enhancements or contextually precise enhancements, as Magic        Reader™ system does. In this way, Magic Reader™ system is a        game-changer.

The Magic Reader™ system can be seen as an enabling system wherein anenhancement author creates an enhancement file following the MagicReader spec. This spec is similar to HTML, XML, etc. and hopefully willbecome the de facto standard like PDF. The author can use our onlineeditor or our standalone Magic Reader™ system Creator Suite™ supplement.Online enhancements are stored on, for example, magicreader.com'sservers and can be shared or private. Once Magic Reader™ system hasaccess to the enhancement file, it applies the enhancements to thesource text on the fly.

Use cases

Scenario 1 (Offline):

A publishing house licenses Magic Reader™ system Creator Suite™supplement. The Creator Suite is a standalone app that will mostly beused offline, but could potentially contain features that require aninternet connection.

An employee at the publishing house begins creating enhancements, andonce satisfied, saves the document as“Harry_Potter_and_the_Deathly_Hallows.mre”. (In this case the fileextension “mre” is being used, but no actual extension name has beendecided on).

The publishing house then uploads the .mre file to all the eBook storesthat sell “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.

A reader who already owns “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”purchases the enhancement for 99 cents.

The reader launches Magic Reader™ system, and Magic Reader™ systemapplies the enhancements directly onto the screen, preferably bytouchscreen functionality.

Scenario 2 (Online):

A teacher logs on to magicreader.com and uploads some notes in the formof a Word Document.

Our Magic Reader™ system server converts the text out of the documentand saves it as an .mgc file. Again, the actual file extension has notbeen decided upon, but this file will be used to preserve the originaldocument's formatting and at the same time make it easy for us to applyenhancements.

The server generates a document ID (123abc) and stores it in thedatabase.

The teacher navigates to the online version of the Magic Reader™ systemCreator Suite™ enhancement. This online version may or may not supportsome of the advanced features the standalone version supports.

The teacher loads document 123abc (a .mgc file) and begins makingenhancements.

When the teacher is satisfied with the enhancements, the enhancement issaved and named.

The server generates an enhancement ID (987xyz), associates it withdocument 123abc, and stores the enhancement file on the drive as987xyz.mre.

The teacher allows this document and its enhancement to be viewed andmodified by his students. The enhancement may be renamed as a collectiveID or as individual documents from each student with their own names orcodes associated with the new ID.

A student logs onto magicreader.com and notices a new document isavailable to view.

The student selects the document, and the server loads the file, looksup the associated enhancement file, applies the enhancement in the formof HTML tags, and finally presents the enhanced document to the student.

Scenario 3 (Online+Offline):

A Harry Potter fan creates his own enhancement file, and uploads it tomagicreader.com

Another Harry Potter fan launches Magic Reader™ system and searches forHarry Potter enhancements.

The second fan finds the one and downloads and loads the file. He readsfor a bit.

The next day, he decides to read while on the subway to work. MagicReader™ system knows this particular enhancement is a communityenhancement and checks for updates, but this process fails since thereader does not have a working connection. The reader continues readingwith an older version of the enhancement file.

After work, he launches Magic Reader™ system from home. This time, MagicReader™ system is able to connect to the internet and update theexisting .mre file that exists on the device.

It is important to note that the present system, unlike availabletechnology such as that used by Wikepedia.com, allows the user tomodify, enhance, expand and interact with text on his ownprocessing/reading system and does not have to access the source serveritself and modify the text or access other text through the otherserver.

1. A method of a user accessing information relevant to an electronictext being read by activating a button on an electronic text, theelectronic text supported on: a reading device comprising a viewerscreen, a processor, and a memory, the memory storing text theelectronic text and a reference system containing multiple, accessibledata entries on words or terms within the electronic text; the readingdevice also having user input to activate the button at variouspositions within the electronic text; the memory identifying a positionof the words or terms within the electronic text and different buttonsfor the same term providing a different one of said multiple, accessibledata entries from at least two of said buttons depending upon a locationof the button within the electronic text; and the reading deviceproviding an image on the viewer screen that contains the different oneof said multiple, accessible data entries provided according to thelocation of the button within the electronic text.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the memory stores the reference system in an electroniclook-up file.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the look-up file has anindex corresponding to words or terms within the electronic textaccording to a specific position within the electronic text.
 4. Themethod of claim 2 wherein the look-up file has an index corresponding towords or terms within the electronic text according to a range ofpositions within the electronic text.
 5. The method of claim 2 whereinthe look-up file has an index corresponding to words or terms within theelectronic text according to ranges of positions within the electronictext.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein at least some of the ranges ofpositions within the electronic text include more than three distinctpositions of the words or terms within the electronic text.
 7. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the electronic text in memory is maintained inone file and the multiple, accessible data entries on words or termswithin the electronic text is maintained in a separate file from theelectronic text, and activating a button on a keyword or key-phrase inthe electronic text, directs the processor to cross-reference themultiple, accessible data entries on words or terms within theelectronic text and to display a position relevant data entry withrespect to the position of the button within the electronic text.
 8. Themethod of claim 2 wherein the electronic text in memory is maintained inone file and the multiple, accessible data entries on words or termswithin the electronic text is maintained in a separate file from theelectronic text, and activating a button on a keyword or key-phrase inthe electronic text, directs the processor to cross-reference themultiple, accessible data entries on words or terms within theelectronic text and to display a position relevant data entry withrespect to the position of the button within the electronic text.
 9. Themethod of claim 3 wherein the electronic text in memory is maintained inone file and the multiple, accessible data entries on words or termswithin the electronic text is maintained in a separate file from theelectronic text, and activating a button on a keyword or key-phrase inthe electronic text, directs the processor to cross-reference themultiple, accessible data entries on words or terms within theelectronic text and to display a position relevant data entry withrespect to the position of the button within the electronic text. 10.The method of claim 4 wherein the electronic text in memory ismaintained in one file and the multiple, accessible data entries onwords or terms within the electronic text is maintained in a separatefile from the electronic text, and activating a button on a keyword orkey-phrase in the electronic text, directs the processor tocross-reference the multiple, accessible data entries on words or termswithin the electronic text and to display a position relevant data entrywith respect to the position of the button within the electronic text.11. The method of claim 5 wherein the electronic text in memory ismaintained in one file and the multiple, accessible data entries onwords or terms within the electronic text is maintained in a separatefile from the electronic text, and activating a button on a keyword orkey-phrase in the electronic text, directs the processor tocross-reference the multiple, accessible data entries on words or termswithin the electronic text and to display a position relevant data entrywith respect to the position of the button within the electronic text.12. The method of claim 6 wherein the electronic text in memory ismaintained in one file and the multiple, accessible data entries onwords or terms within the electronic text is maintained in a separatefile from the electronic text, and activating a button on a keyword orkey-phrase in the electronic text, directs the processor tocross-reference the multiple, accessible data entries on words or termswithin the electronic text and to display a position relevant data entrywith respect to the position of the button within the electronic text.13. A method of providing an electronic text with a reference systemcontaining multiple, accessible data entries on words or terms withinthe electronic text, the method comprising: downloading the electronictext to a memory associated with a display screen; providing to thememory a reference system containing multiple, accessible data entrieson words or terms within the electronic text; providing buttons to theelectronic text on key word or key terms in the electronic text thatcause a processor accessing the memory having the reference systemcontaining multiple, accessible data entries on words or terms withinthe electronic text to display on the display screen only a singleaccessible data entry on the key word or key term button according to arelative location of the key word or the key term within the electronictext.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the reference system isdownloaded and the downloading also overlays buttons throughout the texton predetermined key words or key terms, the reference system containingmultiple, accessible data entries on the key words or key terms withinthe electronic text.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein providing thereference system containing multiple, accessible data entries on wordsor terms within the electronic text is done by downloading a filecontaining the reference system containing multiple, accessible dataentries on words or terms within the electronic text in a look-up tableinto the memory.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein providing thereference system containing multiple, accessible data entries on wordsor terms within the electronic text is done by a writer adding multiple,accessible data entries on words or terms within the electronic text andassociating those multiple, accessible data entries on words or termswithin the electronic text to progressive locations of the key words orkey terms within the electronic text.
 17. An electronic text displaysystem comprising: a display screen; a processor; and a memory; thememory having a display readable text embedded therein; the memoryhaving multiple, accessible data entries on key words or key termswithin the electronic text; and the processor configured to: a) causethe display screen to display a readable text; b) cause the readabletext to have buttons on key words or key terms in the readable text; c)respond to activation of a button at a location within the electronictext by displaying an accessible data entry dedicated to both the keyword or key term and the location of the key word or key term within theelectronic text.
 18. The electronic text display of claim 17 wherein theaccessible data entry is selected from the group consisting ofprewritten text, an online connection to a source and active videocontent related to the key word or key term at that location.